The second installment of the picks at the Long Bomb as well as week 5 of the NFL. Are things starting to make more sense?

Not really. This year, I think, will really be the year of parity. The Texans, Falcons and Cardinals are undefeated but that won’t last for much longer. Aside from the Texans, there isn’t one really dominant stand out team. The Falcons barely defeated Carolina and the Cardinals are a missed field goal (New England) from being 3 and 1. They also had a tough time against the Dolphins.

So how did my first attempt at picking the games turn out:
11 – 4

I got the Seahawks/Rams, Lions/Vikings, Buccaneers/Redskins and Giants/Eagles wrong.

Not bad for my first try, now let’s look at week 5.

Cardinals at Rams
The Rams surprised with a victory over the Seahawks. But is that more the Rams being better then we thought or the Seahawks not being as good? Combination of both. The Rams are friskier then first thought and the Seahawks aren’t as good. The Cardinals are a surprise team. That defense is dominate. But they did just barely beat the Dolphins and are a missed field goal away from not being perfect. Is this the week that they get their first loss?

Nope.

Cardinals over Rams

Browns at Giants
The Browns are winless. The Giants are 2-2. The Giants lost to the Eagles. The Browns have a little bit of momentum. They seem to be getting better each week. The Giants? If they follow their usual path, they’ll be up and down in the first part of the season and turn it on at the end. I don’t think they’ll make the playoffs this year. It’ll be an up and down season all year for the G-Men. Will the Browns be a down game for them?

Nope.

Giants over Browns

Eagles at Steelers
Are the Steelers better then their 1-2 record? Are the Eagles as good as their 3-1 record. Again, it’s a combination of both. The Eagles are outplaying their skill level. They should not be at 3-1, as evidenced by how close they are to being 1-3. Too many close games. The Steelers are getting old and looking it. Their early bye should let James Harrison and Troy Polamalu back on the field but will it help against Vick and the Eagles?

Yes.

Steelers over Eagles

Packers at Colts
Part of me wants the Colts to win just because of the Chuck Pagano situation. Bruce Arians takes over as the interim head coach and he has a rookie QB to deal with. Normally this would be an issue and could seriously hamper Andrew Luck’s development, but Arians is the offensive coordinator so he was going to be very hands-on with Luck anyways. Now he’ll just be more so. The Packers have some holes in the defense. Can Luck exploit those holes?

Nope.

Packers over Colts

Falcons at Redskins
It may not seem like it at first glance, but the Redskins stand a good chance of beating the Falcons and handing the dirty bird’s their first loss of the season. The Falcons are good, but as Carolina showed last week, they aren’t dominate. Matt Ryan is playing the best football of his young career and the D is doing a good job but can they handle RGIII?

Yes.

Falcons over Redskins

Dolphins at Bengals
The Dolphins are not a good team. They’ll finish 3rd in the AFC East just because the Jets are a train wreck unless Tebow can pull some magic tricks. The Dolphins might not be a good team, but they will play their opponents tough. The Bengals are a middle of the road team. They’re win some and they’ll lose some. Is this week one of the ones they lose?

Yes.

Dolphins over Bengals

Ravens at Chiefs
The Chiefs, like the Dolphins, are not very good. But unlike the Dolphins, the Chiefs won’t play their opponents tough. The Ravens are an angry team, at least they are playing like it. Flacco wants to prove he’s an elite QB and the D wants to prove they are still elite. Neither is really true, but sometimes that actually doesn’t matter because most of football is about willpower and making yourself believe. The Ravens believe. Can the Chiefs knock out that belief?

Nope.

Ravens over Chiefs

Seahawks at Panthers
This is a tough one to pick. The Seahawks have shown flashes of having something good with Russel Wilson. Cam Newton has shown flashes of being a top tier quarterback. Wilson has shown flashes of being the rookie QB that he is. Newton has shown flashes of not being as good as billed (and I won’t get into how Newton’s post-loss behavior also sets him apart from Wilson and shows why Wilson is so highly thought of…). Which QB will show up? Will it be Newton that flashes this week?

Nope.

Seahawks over Panthers

Bears at Jaguars
Blaine Gabbert, the Jags QB, is improving. The Bears, under Cutler, are one of the more up and down teams in the league. Cutler is a good quarterback. When he has the time and the weapons, he is very good. Gabbert doesn’t have the right team around him and will continue to struggle. Gabbert just needs to win one game that he isn’t expected to and that could help him turn the corner. Will this be that game?

Nope.

Bears over Jaguars

Titans at Vikings
For most teams losing their starting QB is a disaster. Jake Locker is out this week with a shoulder injury. But luckily for the Titans they have Matt Hasselback as their back-up. Hasselback could be a starter for about 4 or 5 teams in the league. When Locker went down, and Hasselback went in, the Titans still functioned and made some noise. It wasn’t enough as Hasselback showed some rust. the Vikings are one of the surprise teams this year. Christian Ponder is playing very well and that D is playing good. Will Hasselback be able to defeat the Vikings?

Nope.

Vikings over Titans

Broncos at Patriots
As a long time Patriots fan, I always looked forward to the Brady/Manning duels. The NFL was smart in making those a yearly occurence. This could be the last time that Brady ever plays against Manning. I also remember the years where it seemed like the Patriots played the Broncos every year. Kind of weirdly karmic that Manning’s (possible and more then likely) last game against Belicheck and Brady comes in a Broncos uniform. Belicheck and Brady, for most of the years, have had Peyton Mannings numbers. Will the change in uniform help that?

Nope.

Patriots over Broncos

Bills at 49ers
The Bills were supposed to be a resurgent team this year. They were supposed to challenge the Patriots for the AFC East. They were supposed to. It’s not going to happen. The Bills will benefit from the Dolphins not being good and the train wreck that is the Jets, and they will come in second. Does that mean they’ll beat the 49ers?

Nope.

49ers over Bills

Chargers at Saints
The Chargers are looking good, but then they always look good at the beginning of the year. The Saints are looking awful. The league just announced that the suspended Saints can be at Sundays game. Not sure what that is supposed to accomplish. Give the team a boost to play better? That won’t happen. This should be another loss for the Saints and bring them to 0-5, even with Drew Brees scoring a touchdown and passing Johnny Unitas for the consectutive games with a TD record. Could he do that and upset the Chargers at the same time?

Yes.

Saints over Chargers

Texans at Jets
The Texans are the only dominate team in the NFL. The Jets are a train wreck. The Jets are without Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes. Is there any doubt who will win this one?